RUMFORD – Selectman Jeremy Volkernick resigned April 10, citing his frustration with no reduction in the town’s upcoming budget.
Volkernick said Monday evening that he made up his mind to submit his resignation to Town Manager Carlo Puiia after he read an article in Wednesday’s Sun Journal, which described how the Finance Committee approved several department budgets with few reductions.
“I woke up the morning of April 10th, looked at the newspaper and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Volkernick said. “We had representatives from the mill come to us on March 28th, and we sat there and listened to them speak their case. The mill came to us, asking for help to reduce the budget in order to help get their taxes lower, so we could show the mill corporation in Wisconsin that Rumford is a business-friendly town.
“The board and the Finance Committee listened to them and said they’d adhere to what the mill said when starting the budget process, and then to see that they approved everything with barely any reduction?” Volkernick said. “What a slap in the face for the people at the mill.”
In December, NewPage announced it had completed financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On Feb. 19, the Ohio-based corporation said it would reduce its operating costs and workforce due to a decline in demand for its paper.
For the Rumford mill, that meant laying off 45 hourly positions and cutting costs by $2 million.
On March 28, the board met with NewPage mill manager Jerry Leclaire, mill fiber supply director and spokesman Tony Lyons and mill controller Kelly Berry in order to discuss the mill’s situation and ways the town could help reduce the mill’s taxes.
“All we had to do is say, ‘We’ll do what we have to do,’ reduce some of the budgets and show NewPage that Rumford is trying to improve and be more business friendly,” Volkernick said. “It was a golden opportunity for us to shine, but in return, we kind of shoved it up the mill’s rear end.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” Volkernick continued. “Why put myself through this, knowing the vote will always be 4-1 in favor of passing the budget, no matter what?”
Volkernick, along with Chairman Greg Buccina, are NewPage employees.
“People always label me as a mill employee,” Volkernick said, “and I tell them, ‘Yeah, but I’m also a taxpayer, and I’m here to represent the taxpayers of Rumford.’”
Volkernick said he told his wife about his resignation, and she gave him “her full support.” He added that he “feels a heck of a lot better” and that he “wishes everyone the best of luck.
“All I have to say is that even if the mill doesn’t close down, the town will still need to get its budget under control,” Volkernick said.
Puiia said Monday afternoon that he “received a brief letter from Mr. Volkernick last week announcing his resignation.
“He wrote that he enjoyed serving as a selectman on the board, and wished us all the best of luck,” Puiia said. “It was a very short letter.”
Volkernick said that if the town ever got the budget under control, there is “some chance” that he would run for office again.
“With the way things are right now, though, I’m all set,” Volkernick said.
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